BACKGROUND: Subcutaneous immunotherapy is effective for the treatment of respiratory allergy, and it is largely used in Italy, but no systematic safety assessment has been carried out so far. OBJECTIVE: To assess prospectively the safety of injection immunotherapy in a multicentre, real-life survey. METHODS: Eleven Italian allergy departments recorded the clinical characteristics of systemic reactions (SRs) due to immunotherapy. Vaccines were prescribed according to guidelines; only standardized depot extracts were used. SRs were graded according to the EAACI recommendations, and were classified as immediate or delayed. RESULTS: One thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight patients (847 males, age range 5-71) received immunotherapy from eight different manufacturers, for a total of 2038 courses (300 patients received two extracts). A total of 60 785 injections were given over a mean immunotherapy duration of 3 years. Overall, 95 reactions were observed in 57 patients (3.28%), corresponding to 4.7% of the courses and 1.56/1000 injections. Twenty-five patients experienced more than one adverse event. There were 34 grade 2, 60 grade 3 and one grade 4 reactions and no fatality. SRs occurred more frequently in patients with asthma than in patients with rhinitis alone (4.1% vs. 1.1%), and were equally distributed between the build-up and the maintenance phase. Ragweed and grass extracts caused significantly more side effects than other allergens. CONCLUSION: In this large prospective study, the rate of SRs was low, thus confirming that injection immunotherapy has an acceptable risk/benefit ratio when prescribed and carried out according to recommendations.
BACKGROUND: Subcutaneous immunotherapy is effective for the treatment of respiratory allergy, and it is largely used in Italy, but no systematic safety assessment has been carried out so far. OBJECTIVE: To assess prospectively the safety of injection immunotherapy in a multicentre, real-life survey. METHODS: Eleven Italian allergy departments recorded the clinical characteristics of systemic reactions (SRs) due to immunotherapy. Vaccines were prescribed according to guidelines; only standardized depot extracts were used. SRs were graded according to the EAACI recommendations, and were classified as immediate or delayed. RESULTS: One thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight patients (847 males, age range 5-71) received immunotherapy from eight different manufacturers, for a total of 2038 courses (300 patients received two extracts). A total of 60 785 injections were given over a mean immunotherapy duration of 3 years. Overall, 95 reactions were observed in 57 patients (3.28%), corresponding to 4.7% of the courses and 1.56/1000 injections. Twenty-five patients experienced more than one adverse event. There were 34 grade 2, 60 grade 3 and one grade 4 reactions and no fatality. SRs occurred more frequently in patients with asthma than in patients with rhinitis alone (4.1% vs. 1.1%), and were equally distributed between the build-up and the maintenance phase. Ragweed and grass extracts caused significantly more side effects than other allergens. CONCLUSION: In this large prospective study, the rate of SRs was low, thus confirming that injection immunotherapy has an acceptable risk/benefit ratio when prescribed and carried out according to recommendations.
Authors: H W Chu; C M Lloyd; W Karmaus; P Maestrelli; P Mason; G Salcedo; J Thaikoottathil; A J Wardlaw Journal: Clin Exp Allergy Date: 2010-11 Impact factor: 5.018
Authors: Marek L Kowalski; Ignacio Ansotegui; Werner Aberer; Mona Al-Ahmad; Mubeccel Akdis; Barbara K Ballmer-Weber; Kirsten Beyer; Miguel Blanca; Simon Brown; Chaweewan Bunnag; Arnaldo Capriles Hulett; Mariana Castells; Hiok Hee Chng; Frederic De Blay; Motohiro Ebisawa; Stanley Fineman; David B K Golden; Tari Haahtela; Michael Kaliner; Connie Katelaris; Bee Wah Lee; Joanna Makowska; Ulrich Muller; Joaquim Mullol; John Oppenheimer; Hae-Sim Park; James Parkerson; Giovanni Passalacqua; Ruby Pawankar; Harald Renz; Franziska Rueff; Mario Sanchez-Borges; Joaquin Sastre; Glenis Scadding; Scott Sicherer; Pongsakorn Tantilipikorn; James Tracy; Vera van Kempen; Barbara Bohle; G Walter Canonica; Luis Caraballo; Maximiliano Gomez; Komei Ito; Erika Jensen-Jarolim; Mark Larche; Giovanni Melioli; Lars K Poulsen; Rudolf Valenta; Torsten Zuberbier Journal: World Allergy Organ J Date: 2016-10-12 Impact factor: 4.084
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Authors: Moises A Calderón; Pablo Rodríguez Del Río; Carmen Vidal; Jocelyne Just; Oliver Pfaar; Allan Linneberg; Pascal Demoly Journal: Clin Transl Allergy Date: 2014-07-21 Impact factor: 5.871
Authors: Giorgio Walter Canonica; Gianenrico Senna; Patrick D Mitchell; Paul M O'Byrne; Giovanni Passalacqua; Gilda Varricchi Journal: World Allergy Organ J Date: 2016-11-28 Impact factor: 4.084